Ghost Strangers
by sweetcupcake2234
Summary: Marco first noticed him while he was flying, a stranger on board. he knew everyone on this ship by name and face, but never once had he ever seen this brat before. he would've remembered a bright orange hat like that. so, who was he? and what is he doing on their ship?


The first time he saw him, it was from a distance.

Marco flew through the skies above the Moby Dick as he usually does in the mornings. The ocean and sky were beautiful at this time of day, filled with reds and yellows as the first rays of dawn streak over the horizon. He looked down at the ship below, slowly waking up to the world. The first people awake were always the chefs, they had to have breakfast ready before anyone else was there. Everyone else woke up on their own accord.

Strangely enough, when he looked down his eyes locked on to a brightly orange hat. His keen eyes could see, even from this distance, that the hat had two faces on it, a smiley and a frowny. But this isn't what interested his the most, no not really.

He was more intrigued by the person wearing the hat. He had raven hair with no shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. Slung over his shoulders was a raincoat, bright orange to match the hat, and in his hand was a small wooden hammer. But this isn't the most intriguing part about the stranger.

No. not at all.

Marco prides himself in knowing the names and faces of _every_ crew member onboard the Moby Dick, a skill which took him years to develop. He would remember that, it's hard to forget a bright orange thing like that.

No. the thing that interests him the most about the stranger is that he doesn't know him.

They haven't been to an island in about a month, part of the reason why they're going to one now, so he can't be a stowaway. They would have noticed sooner if he was. there hasn't been an attack from a different pirate crew in about a week, so he probably wasn't an enemy, besides, he didn't look like he wanted to kill them all, not with the calm and at peace expression he had.

Marco can't think of any other reason why the brat would be on their boat, he didn't seem like an enemy, but he wasn't a part of their crew either. It puzzled him.

Deciding to get a closer look, the phoenix flew down, getting closer to the boat. he planned to land right in front of the brat and ask who the hell he was. that plan was ruined when the stranger noticed him.

The orange hat wearing brat looked up at him and smiled, even having the audacity to wave at him. now Marco _really_ wanted to know who the hell he was, because people only waved to him if they knew who he was or were a really big bird fan, everyone else normally ignored him. Marco blinked at the action, halting his downward flight to sit there in confusion. It wasn't long before he looked down again to find the boy.

He was missing.

The brat was gone.

Marco flew down and transformed, scanning with his Haki to get a read on anyone nearby. There was no one. He looked around, as if that would help when his Haki had failed. The brat still wasn't there.

The phoenix raised an eyebrow in confusion, he was sure the brat was here.

It wasn't just his imagination, was it?

* * *

"someone got away from you?" thatch asked in the weekly commander's meeting. Marco had decided to bring the weird stranger he saw up at the end of the meeting, to try and find out if anyone else had seen him.

"yeah, he just up and vanished into thin air, yoi." The first division commander said bemused.

Whitebeard scratched his chin, "I don't think we have anyone onboard who matches that description. You said he didn't seem hostile, right?"

Marco nodded, "yeah, the brat even waved to me."

"then I don't see the problem," whitebeard shrugged, "if he isn't hurting anyone he can stay abord. But if anyone see him, inform him that I would like a chat." He said with a smile. the commanders could almost read his mind, it was so obvious that he wanted to ask the brat to join his crew, and they would make sure to tell him if they saw him.

* * *

It had been a few months since the brat had waved at Marco, most were believing that he had either left or was just a figment of Marco's imagination. Or a mirage. The first division commander completely agreed, no one had seen him since so he might have just imagined him, but he was still of the belief that the brat existed, even if he had ran off on the last island.

When a raging thunder snowstorm was sighted on the port side, the crew did everything they can to avoid it. they almost succeeded, but the currents and the wind blew them into the edges of the storm, not too say they were less dangerous than any other part of the storm, but they were lucky they only got the edges, it meant it would only last a few hours at most. Thunder snowstorms are one of the most dangerous types of weather conditions people can find in the grand line – with cyclone-lightning hail being a close second. The waves pick up to ridiculous levels, easily ten times as big as the Moby Dick – and she was a big ship – the hail, snow and rain get in their sights and it becomes hard to see their hands in front of their faces, that, and the terrible cold that seeps under their skin an make it impossible for one person to stay above deck for longer than ten minutes, and don't forget the lighting. At least they had rain to put out any fires that might start.

"stow the mainsail!" Marco called to the sea of crewmates; they would be hitting the hard weather any second now. the main sail would only be damaged terribly if they left it out. The crew were quick to act on his command, stowing the mainsail in a matter of seconds.

Then the weather hit.

At first they were able to maintain their course, avoiding the worst of the storm as they slowly try to ease out of it. but it was slowly getting worse. The weather was picking up, their crew were having a hard time dealing with the cold and could barely stay out without risking frostbite, and they were running out of heat packs for the people with frostbite.

Marco, being imperious to the cold, spent the entire time out outside and was the first to notice the new face – not that he could actually see it in this weather. He saw the orange hat first, swaying by a string around the stranger's neck. The brat was wearing his bright orange raincoat like a beacon in the darkness. He was running around the deck, helping everyone and doing everything they couldn't manage. He pulled ropes with others, calling along with them when they finally get it tied down, helping people stand after they fell over when a particularly rough wave crashed across the deck, somehow not losing his own footing on the slippery surface.

And above all; he never left.

Marco continued yelling out commands, getting the boat back on track as he and a few others drove the ship back into safer waters. He kept an eye out for the bright orange raincoat, seeing wherever he looked. Ten minutes passed and most of the men swapped out with someone else. The stranger stayed. Another rotation went by, more men climbed into the cold storm and rough waves while the battle wary escaped to the warmth of below deck. The brat stayed, never faltering. An hour passed and Marco was about to go tell him to rest, stowaway or not, no one should stay in this weather for too long.

Suddenly, with the ability only granted to the weather of the grand line, the storm disappeared.

A cheer flew round the ship, finally this terrible weather was over. Now they had a reason to celebrate. Marco smiled along with them, keeping an eye on the stranger even as a party got started.

The orange hood was thrown off, revealing a freckled smiling face, cheering along with them, happy to be a part of their joy. He smiled and whooped, throwing his arms just like everyone else.

Their eyes met, and the brat's smile seemed to double in size. The orange wearing kid waved to him, and Marco found himself waving back.

Then he walked behind someone and Marco could no longer see him.

He disappeared again.

The first division commander ran over to where he last saw the brat, but he was gone.

Damn, he was good.

* * *

"I saw him. he caught me before I fell overboard." A crew member said.

"same here."

After the party, Marco asked the entire crew if they had seen someone wearing a bright orange raincoat in the thunder snowstorm, just to make sure it wasn't his imagination.

"yeah, the guy helped us pull the rigging across when it slipped."

"he caught the ropes that came loose near me, saved me too from a wicked wave too."

"do you know where he is? I want to thank him."

Marco smiled at the group, they were all on deck at different times, "no, yoi. We don't know who he is. I saw him a few months back, but he is really good at his vanishing act, no one has seen him until yesterday. I wanted to ask if any of you've seen him before."

The entire table shook their heads, "I thought he was a part of a different division, I've never seen him." someone answered for the group.

Marco hummed, thanking them before walking back to the commanders table.

"any luck?" thatch asked as he sat down beside him, he just finished making all of dinner.

The first division commander nodded, "he was there, it wasn't my imagination, everyone who was above deck saw him at some point. The brat was a big help and is definitely still on the ship, yoi." Marco said with certainty, when over two hundred people claim to see him, he was pretty sure it was real. "what worries me is the fact that I saw him the entire time. He was always somewhere, never taking a break, yoi. He must have frostbite or something. but he's disappeared, so we can't even check, yoi." He said. His face remained the same calm it always was, but the commanders could tell he was annoyed.

"don't worry, Marco." Whitebeard said, "if the brat wants help, we will give it to him, but until he reappears we will just have to assume he's okay."

The phoenix sighed, "I know, yoi."

The captain smiled, "besides, when he does show up, I need to thank him."

Curiel looked at the captain, "why's that?" he stayed below deck the entire time, treating everyone who came to his infirmary. Whitely Bay may be the head nurse, but he was the head doctor and the division commander in charge of the infirmary. He hasn't heard many of the stories yet, just a few in passing.

Pops smiled, "he saved a good number of our crew from falling overboard, as well as helping the entire time in that storm."

Curiel's mouth dropped, along with the few other commanders who hadn't gone above deck in the storm. The ones that did nodded along, completely thankful for his help, without him it would've been a lot different.

"h-how was he able to stay up there for that long?!" Curiel shrieked, "quick! Go find him, I need to do a check up on him!" he shoved whatever remained on his plate into his mouth before running off to find the orange clad brat.

Thatch stared where he went, "…should we help him?"

Whitebeard hummed, "we'll get the entire crew to help after dinner."

The other commanders nodded.

* * *

No one was able to find him that day. Or for the next few weeks.

Most had given up, but there was still a good amount of people who kept an eye out for the stranger. Marco was one of them, visiting the first place he saw him every morning on the off chance he would appear again.

And eventually, after three weeks, he did.

Marco had finished his morning flight early when he saw the bright orange hat. He landed behind the brat, he was sitting on the railing at the back of the boat, humming a song to himself with his eyes shut. same as before, the stranger's orange raincoat was thrown over his shoulder. But now, Marco could see his back.

On the stranger's back was a large tattoo of their jolly roger in all its glory. As Marco moved closer to him, he could see that the tattoo appeared to weave in the wind, as if it moved on its own. But that couldn't be possible, it was just a tattoo. So, Marco ignored it, more focused on why he had a tattoo of their Jolly Roger than anything else. As far as he knew, he wasn't a part of the crew.

Obviously, he thought differently.

"hello, my name's Marco, yoi." He started, the brat moved his head sideways in acknowledgment, not stopping his humming as he sat on the rail. "what's yours?"

The stranger didn't answer, only continued humming. Marco didn't ask again, only leaning on the railing near him as he kept his watchful eye on him. he wasn't going to disappear on him this time.

When he finished his song, the orange clad man spoke. "well, that depends what you want." He answered cryptically.

Marco raised his eyebrow, "and what do I want?"

The stranger shrugged, "donno. I'm not you." he stopped swinging his legs and leaned forward on his knees, staring out to the ocean. They had a moments silence before the stranger spoke again, voice calm and happy, "I've always loved the ocean. It always smelled like freedom and I felt like, just this once, I can go wherever I want, be whatever I want."

Marco nodded, "I can agree with that, the ocean is wonderful. I love sailing its lengths onboard the Moby and doing it with my family." The man smiled at something he said, what it was he couldn't tell, probably the ocean.

"yeah, the family's great."

The first division commander decided not to ask what he meant, it wasn't his family, not yet, but they would offer it to him as soon as possible. Maybe now, if Marco got his way. he hummed in agreement.

The two fell into a calm silence as they watched the sun slowly climb its way over the horizon.

"Pops wanted to thank you for your help in that thunder snowstorm a few weeks back."

The stranger turned to him and smiled broadly, "I know, I heard him." Marco raised an eyebrow, how? He wasn't there, he had disappeared before. It was obvious the brat noticed his inner turmoil but refused to explain.

"along with most of the crew, yoi." He continued, hoping the man would explain.

The stranger laughed, "I know, they won't stop taking about it. I find their attempts to find me funny, it's not like I'm hiding or anything. You guys are just blind."

Marco furrows his brow, turning to face the man more. "but you disappeared, yoi. How is that not hiding?"

The stranger tapped his nose, "you're looking for the wrong thing." This only confused Marco more.

"okay then, Mr. stranger." He looked out to sea again, only half expecting the man to disappear.

"Mr. stranger?" the man asked humorlessly, "that's not right. I can promise you, I'm not a stranger. Everyone on board knows me."

"but no one knows your name, Mr. Stranger, yoi. So, we gave you one."

This only caused his to laugh out loud, almost falling off the railing but he managed to catch himself at the last moment. "if that's what your worried about, just call me Ace or something." he smiled.

"but is Ace your real name?"

"No." was the blunt reply.

Macro smirked, "but I want to know your real name."

"ah, so you know what you want now." he said humming in thought with a soft smile. "well then…" Ace blew a raspberry at him.

"so why won't you tell me your real name?" he asked after a few seconds silence.

Ace tapped his cheek, "many reasons." He answered simply.

"and what's the main one, yoi?"

He smiled, turning completely towards him and jumping off the railing, "I want to see how long it takes you guys to figure it out." He ran around the corner, Marco following close behind, but as soon as he disappears from sight, he's gone.

Marco sighed, slightly more accustomed to this then he felt he should be.

At least he knew the brat was alive and well, and he knew what they could call him, since he isn't telling them his real name.

* * *

Whitebeard laughed when he told him, "so the brat thinks he's a part of our crew already." He said in the next weekly meeting when Ace was brought up. "well then, let's have a party tonight to celebrate our new member." He smiled.

A few other commanders laughed with him. when it died down thatch asked, "so, his name is Ace, right?"

Marco answered, "well, not really. He refused to give me his real name, but he gave me that one, even if it was only a suggestion. And Ace is better than Mr. Stranger, yoi."

Thatch hummed, planning the cake he was going to make for the party. Hopefully Ace would see it and reveal himself again, even if it wasn't likely.

"why won't he give you his real name?" Izo asked with furrowed brows.

Marco shrugged, "he only said that he found it funny that we haven't figured it out yet, yoi. According to him, we all know his name already."

The other commanders looked confused, "how would we know his name, he never told us it." Jozu pointed out.

"my thought exactly, but he believes otherwise." Marco said.

Curial said, "well, at least we know he isn't dead. He didn't show any signs of frostbite, did he?"

Marco shook his head, "no, he seemed as right as rain, yoi."

The head of the infirmary nodded, "none of the heat packs are missing…I wonder how he did it…" he mumbled to himself, puzzling over the problem temporarily named Ace.

The commanders slowly started talking about other things before ending the meeting with a reminder to keep their eyes open for the brat.

* * *

Ace disappeared off the face of the earth for about eight months. No one saw him, not even in the mornings.

Knowing that he disappeared and reappeared whenever, most weren't worried for him, only keeping an eye and ear out for when he next appeared. They visited a few islands and some people believed that he left but some strongly believed that he never left. He didn't the last time.

Sometimes, they heard singing coming from within the ship, no one can ever find it, but it was nice. They knew it was Ace's voice, or at least the people who had heard him before – Marco – and search parties looked for him whenever it appeared, but they could never once find him.

Every time they think they cornered the voice, it stopped and started somewhere else, like it teleported or something.

"when was thatch coming back?" someone behind him asked.

"later today." someone else behind him answered.

"oh, cool. Thanks." The first guy said.

The head chef had gone out on a mission two weeks ago and was due to return today. Marco expected a feast and a massive party like all the other times he went on a mission. Oh, and Izo would get another present – they had started dating a few months back and thatch couldn't help himself with the gifts.

He would go above deck to greet him later; it was still a few hours before he would get back.

And with that, the phoenix went to his room to do paperwork, he need to catch up on his work anyway.

* * *

A few hours passed and Thatch's boat was nearing. The red head climbed up the ladder, small chest in hand, and jumped over the railing with a loud "Tada!" as if he had just performed a magic trick.

Marco rolled his eyes at the fourth division commander's antics before asking, "what do you have there, yoi?"

Thatch wiggled his eyebrows before doing an overly dramatic gesture and opening the chest. Inside was a black and purple fruit with swirls, it was a devil fruit. "I found a devil fruit!" he declared.

Marco smiled at his happy brother, "have you decided what you're going to do with it?"

Thatch shook his head, "Na, I don't want to eat and never be able to swim again for some sort of lame power. I'll have to find out what one it is first though."

The first division commander nodded in understanding, "good idea, yoi."

No one noticed the fat bearded man in the background smiling as if Christmas and Halloween came early – Seriously, he was creepy – except one. A certain orange wearing stranger temporarily named Ace.

* * *

Thatch yawned, he finally finished cleaning all the dishes from dinner. normally it wouldn't take this long, but his usual helper is sick, and his secondary helper was away on a mission, so he had to do it all by himself. He would've gotten one of his other chefs to help, but he decided not to ask – he liked doing it by himself sometimes.

He rounded the corner to his room, and he saw someone in front of him. he had never seen the boy before, but judging by Marco's description, he assumed this was Ace. He was wearing the orange raincoat with the hood up, a hammer in his right hand, "hello, I'm thatch." He said cheerfully, but the boy didn't respond with the expected response, instead he stood in his way with a taunt and worried expression, "hey, what wrong?" he asked, seeing the look.

Ace looked around, "you have to go hide, you can't be here right now." he said, refusing to look at him. Ace kept his eyes moving around, searching for something. "you need to take that devil fruit and get rid of it." he continued.

"w-what? Hey! Why are you saying this? What's going on?" thatch asked the kid; he was sure this wasn't going on for any random reason, it must be important if the brat decided to reappear for it.

Ace looked at him, "Teach," he said the name with unveiled hatred, "plans to kill you and steal the devil fruit." He explained.

"w-what?!" Thatch exclaimed, "but he's in the crew, why would he do that?"

Ace looked around again, now thatch knew he was looking for teach. "you have to go. It's not safe here."

Thatch frowned, "I don't know who you are, kid, but we don't do very kindly to threats against our family." He threatened. The boy sounded nice from what everyone had told him, and he was really looking forward to meeting him, but not like this. The brat was accusing one of his brothers of murder, which he hasn't done yet, with no proof.

"I know!" he yelled exasperated, "but that doesn't matter right now! you need to get out of here! Got to Pops, or Marco! Go to anyone, just don't stay here!" the boy yelled, fear and anxiety flooding him.

Thatch crossed his arms, slightly worried by how hard this kid was trying to get him to go somewhere else, but if he did that then it would be like he was admitting that his brother might commit treason. He didn't want to accept that, teach was his brother while this Ace guy was a stranger who helped them through a particularly bad storm nine months ago.

"why should I believe you?" he asked, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Ace groaned pulling at his hair, "I'm a part of this crew just as much as you." thatch blinked at that, he didn't even know him, and he wasn't even there for his own welcome party, "but I heard him planning it, have been for a while. He only joined the crew in the first place to find that fucking devil fruit, he never cared about the family or Pops or the crew. J-just _please_ go somewhere else."

Thatch looked at him. the concern and worry were written all over his face and his actions. He really was trying to help, even if it was against all his belief that teach could do wrong. He was his brother and he knew him for quite a few years now. was it really all fake to him? he refused to believe it.

But maybe, he could go elsewhere, just for tonight.

"fine. I'll be in Pops room with the devil fruit. And tomorrow, you get to explain yourself." He bargained.

Ace pouted, "fine, but only if you guess my name."

"Ace."

"nope."

Thatch sighed before continuing past the man to his room, grabbing the devil fruit before heading to Pops' room for a sleepover. The brat had disappeared again.

He didn't see the shadow creep up behind him, staring intently at the devil fruit in his hands, until the last second.

* * *

"MARCO!"

Marco woke up to the sound of yelling. Someone was calling his name really loudly and as if they were freaked out or stressed. It was late at night and he wasn't usually disturbed when he slept unless it was an emergency, so he was up in seconds. He threw on a shirt as he opened the door.

In front of him stood a raven-haired boy with an orange hat and an orange raincoat on, he was wearing black pants and a belt. He looked stressed and worried as if something bad had happened.

"Ace?" he asked, after all it wasn't often he showed himself, to anyone. He had only seen him three times in the last year.

"follow me." he said tense. Marco did without second thought, something in his eyes told him not to question him.

"Ace, what wrong?" he said a bit strongly. Something was wrong, that was obvious, the question is what was it?

Ace bit his lip as he ran thought the corridor, Marco following close behind, but he did answer, "Teach attacked Thatch for the devil fruit. He didn't believe he when I told him to get out of there, but he isn't dead… yet. Please help him."

"what!?" they doubled their pace.

It wasn't long before they rounded a corner to see Thatch lying there bleeding out on the wooden floor. A knife stuck in his side, just missing his vitals, and a half-eaten devil fruit nearby. Marco was at his side in seconds, "we need to get him to the infirmary, fast!" he said, carefully picking up the head chef, carrying him over his shoulder to lessen the blood loss from the wound. He was careful not to touch or remove the knife, that would only make him lose blood faster. "go ahead and wake up the doctors!" he demanded.

Ace was gone in an instant.

Marco ran through the halls, taking the fastest route to the infirmary from here, it would take a few minutes, and he could only hope it wasn't too late.

When he got there, the doctors were awake and ready, laying him down on the surgery table before kicking him out. Ace was already outside, biting his fingernails in stress. He walked over and crouched in front of him, "ace, it's okay. Thatch will be fine. He will make it through this." He comforted, reaching out a hand to place on the brat's shoulder. He blinked.

Ace disappeared.

"w-wha-"

Ace flinched. "s-sorry." He said as Marco quickly spun around to see him in the hallway, holding his mallet to his chest tightly.

"how did you…?" he asked, surprised.

Ace looked away, "I can't tell you…" he mumbled just loud enough for Marco to hear.

"why not?" Marco asked, reclaiming his calm expression for what he was known for. He was genuinely confused as to why Ace couldn't just tell him.

"I…I just can't. I can only tell you if you guess my name." Ace said, refusing to look at him.

Marco furrowed his brows, "Ace, now isn't the time for games."

Ace shrugged, "I know. But I can't tell you."

Marco sighed, he really wasn't in the mood for the brat's games, so he just stood up and walked over to him. "come on, we have to inform Pops about this."

Ace nodded, "right…"

The two walked on in silence. Ace fiddled with his hammer while Marco watched him, thinking about the event with Thatch and Teach and would really like to know why Ace didn't get himself involved if he knew it was going to happen. Marco didn't blame him but he's curious why Ace didn't take Thatch to the infirmary himself. It would've stopped this madness a lot sooner, and maybe they could've caught Teach as well.

He would have to ask later, after he got the full story of what the hell happened.

The pair walked over to a large door; it was Pops' door. Marco knocked while Ace stood nearby, staring at the ground. Now, he wasn't sad or stressed out as he was before, he had some time to cool down, and was now starting to get angry and mad at himself. He can't do anything, not even a simple thing like this. He had to get help from someone else and possible destroy Thatch's chances at survival. He grits his teeth, why did he have to be bound by some stupid rules?

"come in." whitebeards voice said from the inside of the room. Marco opened the door and waited until Ace was inside before closing it again. "Marco, is this the person I've been hearing so much about?" Pops asked with a smile, before noticing the deep looks both had. "what's wrong." He stated. It wasn't a question; something had gone wrong and he needed to know.

Marco took a seat on the chairs provided in here for reasons just like this, ace stayed standing. Marco was the first to answer the question. "the shorter answer is that Teach attacked Thatch for the devil fruit he found, and Ace got me to carry him to the infirmary, yoi." He said, Whitebeard looked shocked before angry as he thought about that traitor. He had taken him in when there was no where else for him to go, and _this_ is how he gets repay?! A backstabber and a traitor. Marco continued, "I don't know the full story or most of what happened, Ace, however, does."

Pops looked at Ace, the mysterious disappearing son of his, who thought he was already apart of their crew even before he knew of him, and before they had a party for it. he was wearing a raincoat with a small hammer in his hands, as well as a pair of black pants and an obnoxiously orange hat with two faces. It was obvious he was mad with himself, but Whitebeard didn't blame him. he had helped his crew before and did it again now. he would still like the full story though.

"Ace, can you tell us what happened?" he asked, leaning forward. He was sitting on the edge of his large bed; he was going to sleep before they knocked on his door. The captain was wearing a pair of large jean with no shirt on, he wasn't wearing anything else, but shirts were hard and annoying to put on with his moustache. He proffered jackets. The Captain's jacket was hanging on a hook next to the bed.

Ace nodded, "when thatch got back from his mission and showed off his devil fruit, I saw teach grin evilly. There is no other word for that grin." He shivered, "usually, I wouldn't care much and just leave it be, but teach went back to his room and started planning to murder Thatch. I thought I didn't have to intervene or do anything and that it would all blow over or something, but then thatch started walking straight into the trap, without even knowing what the hell was going on." His grip on the hammer double, his knuckles going white. "I appeared and told thatch to get out of there, to go anywhere but here. He wouldn't listen at first, but I think he just got annoyed at me because he decided to humor me. thatch grabbed the devil fruit and started going to your room." he looked up at Pops.

Whitebeard nodded, that definitely sounded like thatch, he would believe in his brothers to a fault. But he was thankful that this brat did try to do something about it.

Ace took a deep breath before continuing. "I took too long explaining it to thatch. Teach had heard it all. I didn't even know until he started boasting about it over Thatch's body. I made a noise and he must have thought I was someone else because he ran, by this point he had already eaten most of the devil fruit. I ran to Marco's room and got him to help and now we're here. Teach is already off the ship and disappearing into the distance." He said looking at the ground.

The pair nodded; it made a lot of sense from what either of them figured out so far.

"thank you for warning my son, even if he didn't listen. And thank you for getting help." Pops said, he wasn't the only one who heard Ace's slip up.

Marco was just the first to ask about it, "you said he must have thought you were someone else, why is that?"

Ace loosened his grip on his hammer, "he figured out what I am and knew I posed absolutely no threat to him right now. I can't tell you what I am until you guess my name though." He added.

Whitebeard furrowed his brow, "and why would you be no threat to him?"

Ace shook his head, "can't tell you that either."

Marco frowned, "what about afterwards, when Thatch was bleeding out, why did you come to me instead of taking him to the infirmary yourself?" none of their questions where accusing, and Ace understood that, it was just pure confusion.

Again, Ace shook his head, "it's the same reason."

Whitebeard hummed, if he can't tell them until they play his game, they might as well play. Right? "your name, can you give us a hint?"

Ace sighed, finally can get onto the necessary part before he can fully explain. He was sort of annoyed at his crew for not figuring it out yet – even though he basically spelled it out for them – but did know that cases like him happened vary rarely, and when it did happen, the crew were much faster on the uptake.

"I've practically spelled it out for you. but sure, I'll do it again. one: my name is not Ace. Two: you all know me and all of you know my name. Three: I've been with this crew since you got this ship. Four: I come out at times of need… or whenever I felt like it, but still rarely. Five: I wear a raincoat and have a hammer. and Six: I can disappear at will and don't have a Haki signage." As he said that, the two checked their Haki, he was telling the truth. "if you don't figure it out, then you guys are idiots."

Whitebeard hummed in thought. Most of those weren't the best of hints, but there were six of them so they should be able to work it out. Most of them didn't help them, but one stood out from the rest – to him, probably not anyone else. Why would owning a raincoat and a hammer be important? They were just items, right? He thought about it a bit more. it sounded like that fairy tale he heard a while back, about the boats having spirits… of their own… called… a Klabautermann… oh.

They_ were_ idiots.

"you're the Moby Dick. You're a Klabautermann." Whitebeard stated drawing the attention of both of them.

The boat spirit smiled at them, "At least my Captain isn't an idiot. Yes, I am this ship. Nice to meet you."

"nice to finally meet you to, son." The captain said.

Their happy meeting was broken by Marco, "wait, how does being a boat spirit mean you couldn't help thatch, yoi?" that didn't make a lot of sense.

Ace smiled – and they will continue to call him Ace because that is what they called him for the last eight months, it's habit now – happy that he can explain. Instead of speaking, he walked over to the wall. And punched it. but his arm didn't dent it, or even leave a mark, even when his arm was in the wall all the way to his elbow. It was like he was a ghost or something. He took it out and looked at them.

"because I don't have a physical form unless the boats in peril." He simply said. "and unfortunately, a traitor does not count."

Whitebeard nodded, that made a lot of sense, "ah, yes. There was a myth about that, wasn't there?" he asked rhetorically.

Marco frowned, "wait, then why did you appear all the other times? And why couldn't you just tell us?" he was very confused right now.

Ace smiled at him sadly, "most other Klabautermann who voluntarily appear for their crew don't have a bunch of idiots sailing with them, other crews were able to figure it out really fast, so it never mattered to them. but we really can't talk much about ourselves until you figure it out yourselves. Something about being a good crew or some bullshit. And I appeared because I wanted to. I can make myself appear, but I can't touch anything. It's like I'm a ghost."

The first division commander nodded sadly, that didn't sound great. He would hate having to watch everything around him happen when he couldn't join in himself.

Ace yawned, even if he was a boat, his human like form did sort of get tired if he stayed in it for too long. And that made the boat slower, just slightly. "it's not as bad as you'd think, I love this crew and have so much fun sailing with you guys. I want to help you in your adventures, and I do." He smiled happily at them, "anyway, I should get going now, I stayed in this form for too long."

Whitebeard smiled at his boat spirit, "see you later, son." He said. Marco nodded in agreement; he would love to talk to him later. Talking to him was nice.

"bye, Pops." he grinned.

They blinked and Ace was gone.

Whitebeard looked over to Marco, "come on, lets go see if the Doctors are done with Thatch. We might as well visit him since we aren't going to get anymore sleep tonight."

* * *

For the next year, Ace appeared all over the ship whenever he wanted, talking to crew members and having fun with them. they had told everyone what he was and they all accepted it with flying colors, they loved their ship, so why not? It's not like much changed, it was like they had a new crewmember.

Thatch made a full recovery and was free of the infirmary in a month. He still wasn't allowed to cook for a week though. When he was, he made a massive feast and tried feeding it to Ace. He wanted to thank him, even though he still got attacked, he would be dead without the warning. After it, he was wary, even if slightly, and that wariness was just enough to avoid a fatal attack from Teach.

Sadly, Ace can't eat or interact with anything unless the ship was in peril.

So, they sailed into a big storm.

Ace ate a whole bunch of food and absolutely loved the cake before he ran outside to help the people on deck. It was a _really_ big storm. Ace was smiling like a loon for the next week.

Thatch and Ace became fast friends, plotting out pranks and ideas. Ace was known as the professional prankster and gave thatch plenty of new ideas to prank everyone with. He couldn't do it himself, but Marco still lectured him about it. unlike Thatch, he couldn't be thrown overboard or be forced to clean the deck, so Marco just lectured him until he agreed never to pull another prank again.

Or until he disappeared.

Laugher always rung out from somewhere deep in the ship, joyful and happy. Marco let it go before throwing Thatch overboard for his pranks. It was great.

Ace loved his home and his crew.

He would never give them up for anything. They were the best.

They got their revenge on Teach. He decided to attack them with his crew of eight, they did suffer some casualties, but they came out victorious. Ace was even able to help since 'big powerful crew attacking them' counts as the ship in peril.

Ace couldn't go onshore, which made most o them really sad, so they brought thinks back with them. they loved showing off flowers of branches or leaves they found that looked cool. Ace looked them, even making a room for them and getting some people to help him take good care of them. once, someone – who shall remain nameless (Pops) – brought a big tree back with them and gave it to Ace. It was a fruit tree and was quickly planted on board. The roots went down to the fourth level, all in specifically designed places, and the trunk was tied to the main mast, providing a shady place to rest under and extra support for the mast.

And it stood up to storms, it was great! Ace loved it.

But all good things have to come to an end eventually.

* * *

Akainu sent a magma fist in the direction of whitebeard, but it wasn't aimed at him. it was aimed for the ship behind him, the Moby Dick. If he destroyed it, then the pirates won't have any way to escape, not until their allies showed up later. Giving him enough time to rid the world of the whitebeard bastard pirates.

As expected, Whitebeard dodged, avoiding the fatal attack without realizing the ship stood strongly behind him. the side of the ship split open from the force and the heat of the magma, setting fire immediately.

Whitebeard spun, staring at the blaze that belonged to him ship. "Ace…" he whispered, before commanding, "everyone! Save the Moby!"

"yeah!"

"quickly! We need water over here!"

"hurry up! hurry up!"

The crowd of pirates yelled as they rushed to put the fire out. Akainu attacked Whitebeard again, preventing him from helping his sons put out the flames. The captain threw more and more attacks at the Admiral, getting his revenge for harming him son.

In the middle of the blaze stood a raven-haired boy. Unlike the rest of the pirates he didn't feel the heat, he didn't even help try and put out the flames. He just stood there in the middle of the ship staring at the burning deck as if hurt by something else. The boy was wearing an orange raincoat with the hood down, his eyes shadowed by a matching hat. If anyone was close enough to see it, they might've noticed the tear fall down his face, evaporating before it hit the deck.

He turned on his heel and walked onto the figure head.

"POPS!" he yelled, waiting for the old man to look at him before he continued, "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to take you one any more adventure!" he yelled, no longer even trying to hide the tears. "this is the end for me."

"no! Ace! We'll save you! this cant be the end!" thatch yelled; he was one of the main people fighting the fire. It wasn't working, it was too powerful, to deep within him. this was the end and there was no escaping it.

Ace shook his head down at the chef, "no, thatch. I'm sorry, it's burnt my keel, I can't sail, even if you put out the fire." He comforted him as the chef fell to his knees, balling him eyes out.

"no! we can fix it! this cant be it!" he demanded. Ace only smiled at him before turning back to him captain.

"POPS! BROTHERS! SISTER! PLEASE LISTEN!" he yelled, standing proudly even as the ship shook beneath him, he was taking on water. Everyone stopped to listen, heading the final words of their ship, the marines attacking stopped out of curiosity. "THIS IS THE END FOR ME! SO, I'D LIKE TO SAY…" his entire body shuddered, forcing him down to one knee. He took a deep breath, coughing out blood before continuing in a loud and clear voice. "THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME!" and then he fell.

The Klabautermann lay flat on the figurehead as his crew cried for him, no one noticing the wound in his chest hidden by his raincoat. The fires ate the ship around him as he slowly passed away, the ship sinking into the ocean, leaving the pirates stranded without a ship.

With newfound rage, Whitebeard spread his arms, cracking the ground, taking out most of the marines before sprinting forward and charging a last ditched attack against the magma admiral. His crew were too heartbroken to continue themselves, so it was up to him, the father to protect them.

Akainu charged up his Magma fist, planning to destroy the pirate. But when he got close enough to punch his fist into the Yonko's gut, flooding it with magma, burning him from the insides, he was in reach of the pirate. Whitebeard took the attack and grabbed the Marine's head. He crushed it in his grip, overusing his devil fruit even as the admiral used his Haki.

The admiral died first, falling to a lifeless heap on the ground. Whitebeard charged forward, only surviving from adrenaline, and attacked every last stinking marine who dared to even touch his family. They were his sons, and he wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt.

Whitebeard died that day, and his legacy would live on with the rest of the mourning crew.

After all, a good Captain will always go down with his ship.

* * *

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